Ajax Bay
Guru
- Location
- East Devon
Copied from another site because I think this is worth sharing. I've always used eye protection (often clear rather than sunglasses) and this rider's experience backs up the merit of so doing.
"Set off near the front under clear skies but it wasn't long before the heavens opened and the rain became quite heavy. About 20km in I started to notice that my eyesight was becoming blurred, not too much but definitely noticeable. As we went through the Shropshire Hills my eyesight became steadily worse and I started to feel some discomfort. Eventually I had to ask my friend to slow down as my diminishing eyesight was making fast riding dangerous. By the time we reached Shobdon Airfield we had slowed to a crawl and I couldn't see much beyond the blinking red light in front of me.
"Once off the bike it was clear there was something not at all right with my eyes. Even out of the rain my eyesight was very blurred and the discomfort was getting worse. I assumed I had some dirt of grit in my eye and tried to wash and tried to wash it out. This made them significantly worse, the pain increased dramatically and my eyes closed altogether, rendering my sightless.
"The first aid lady at the airfield (whose name I'm ashamed to say I've completely forgotten) tried to wash out my eyes as best she could and eventually I was taken to Hereford County Hospital Eye Casualty Unit and diagnosed with severe abrasions on both of my cornea. Three days of agonising pain and not being able to open my eyes followed. Only today can I look at a screen long enough to type this out.
"I'm still not 100% sure what happened, I must have ridden in heavy rain dozens of times with no effect, but my guess is that the bluriness was caused by the amount of rainwater flushing away my "eye juices" (I'm no biologist !!) and drying them out. At the same time, riding down country lanes has caused some small particles of dirt/mud/grit/otherstuff to build up in my eye. When I ried to wash my eyes at Shobdon I suspect I've dislodged the dirt in my eye and caused the abrasions.
"I stopped wearing eye protection a while ago now, I'm not really sure why I just got out of the habit. It's fair to say it's a habit I'll definitely get back into!"
"Set off near the front under clear skies but it wasn't long before the heavens opened and the rain became quite heavy. About 20km in I started to notice that my eyesight was becoming blurred, not too much but definitely noticeable. As we went through the Shropshire Hills my eyesight became steadily worse and I started to feel some discomfort. Eventually I had to ask my friend to slow down as my diminishing eyesight was making fast riding dangerous. By the time we reached Shobdon Airfield we had slowed to a crawl and I couldn't see much beyond the blinking red light in front of me.
"Once off the bike it was clear there was something not at all right with my eyes. Even out of the rain my eyesight was very blurred and the discomfort was getting worse. I assumed I had some dirt of grit in my eye and tried to wash and tried to wash it out. This made them significantly worse, the pain increased dramatically and my eyes closed altogether, rendering my sightless.
"The first aid lady at the airfield (whose name I'm ashamed to say I've completely forgotten) tried to wash out my eyes as best she could and eventually I was taken to Hereford County Hospital Eye Casualty Unit and diagnosed with severe abrasions on both of my cornea. Three days of agonising pain and not being able to open my eyes followed. Only today can I look at a screen long enough to type this out.
"I'm still not 100% sure what happened, I must have ridden in heavy rain dozens of times with no effect, but my guess is that the bluriness was caused by the amount of rainwater flushing away my "eye juices" (I'm no biologist !!) and drying them out. At the same time, riding down country lanes has caused some small particles of dirt/mud/grit/otherstuff to build up in my eye. When I ried to wash my eyes at Shobdon I suspect I've dislodged the dirt in my eye and caused the abrasions.
"I stopped wearing eye protection a while ago now, I'm not really sure why I just got out of the habit. It's fair to say it's a habit I'll definitely get back into!"